FLY-Lion3 Submarine Cable to Help IPGP Monitor Seismic Activity
By Telecompaper
January 16, 2020
Orange and members of the FLY-Lion3 consortium (Lower Indian Ocean Network), the Societe Reunionnaise du Radiotelephone and Comores Cables signed an agreement with the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) to provide the IPGP’s Mayotte volcano and earthquake monitoring network with a pair of optical fibres. This will allow it to experiment with a new technique to listen to the region’s seismic activity. The scientists involved hope to get a better understanding of major geological structures linked to existing seismo-volcanic activity.
Commissioned on 10 October and measuring 400 km in length, the FLY-Lion3 ultra-high-speed cable improves connectivity in the Indian Ocean, with a new route linking Mayotte to the global internet. This submarine fibre optic cable links Moroni (Grande Comore) and Mamoudzou (Mayotte), a seismically active zone which scientists are aiming to better understand.
As part of the agreement, this cable will allow the IPGP to listen to seismic activity in the region, particularly volcanoes in this part of the Indian Ocean. Seismic measurements (ground vibration) will be recorded along the FLY-Lion3 cable from Kaweni for a distance of around 50 km in a south-easterly direction from Mayotte.
For the IPGP, it is a unique observation task involving a major submarine cable. This full-scale experiment will help test new types of measurement equipment. Like terrestrial fibre, submarine cables can be used not only for communications, but also to identify vibrations in the ground where fibre is laid. Equipment placed at the end of the pair of fibre cables will allow it to be used as an antenna to better locate the region’s seismic signals.
Orange said this agreement between the FLY-Lion3 consortium and the IPGP allows it to consider various uses of submarine cables beyond connectivity.
